A fabulous budget-friendly home project: DIY Updating Bi-Fold Closet Doors. You are going to love this makeover!
The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live. -Flora Whittemore
DIY Updating Bi-Fold Closet Doors
Doesn’t it seem like a great day for a feature (#ssmfeatureme)? Today’s project belongs to Morgan who took on this project by herself and it’s ammmmazing!
Hi everyone! My name is Morgan, and I will begin by explaining the why behind this project 🙂
I started this closet idea mostly after being tired of looking at my guest room every time I passed it! (My office is right across the hall, so that was very frequently.) We have been in the middle of a 3-year total gut, remodel job of our home and this was our “storage room” during the process. As time and projects progressed, this room stayed the same.
I began by painting the room and ship-lapping one wall, and then as a challenge to myself I decided to see if there was anything I could do with the existing closet doors. Knowing how expensive they are to replace, I figured there was no harm in trying to update them myself before spending the money.
CLOSET PROJECT SUPPLY LIST
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- Miter saw
- Measuring tape
- Wood Slats (how many will depend on your style and size of doors)
- Liquid nails
- Wood putty
- Caulk
- Paint
My husband is really the handyman but was away at work during my guest room break down. I figured I watched him enough throughout the process and could successfully use a miter saw.
DIY UPDATING BI-FOLD CLOSET DOORS DETAILS
I went to Home Depot and picked up 3-inch slats in the lumber section. They come in two lengths; I grabbed the longer of the two. I roughly (very roughly) figured out about how many feet I would need of these slats before I left for the store, by measuring all sides of the door then multiplying by 4 (for each panel). The design I wanted 4 horizontal dividers per panel so I took the total length of the door and figured my spacing based on that.
To attach the slats to the door, I used liquid nails glue. Once it stuck, it was stuck! I decided to use wood putty at the joining pieces and sand to make the joints appear seamless (they weren’t seamless but I was ok with them…hey, first solo project) I did, however, use caulk on the parts that the slats join the door.
Once everything was dried (make sure it’s dry) I painted! I used Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace, which is the trim color I used throughout my house.
And just to update… the room still isn’t finished but all things come to those who wait, right?
HERE’S ANOTHER CLOSET MAKEOVER IDEA USING REMOVABLE WALLPAPER|
Finally, a HUGE thank you to Morgan for sharing this great project. And if you are interested in a possible feature, you can visit our #ssmfeatureme page for additional information.
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I’ve missed seeing you projects at Talk of the Town! The party is every Tuesday at 18:00. I hope you’ll come back!
OoooooWeeee those bi-fold closet doors look amazing now. They’re totally different to the before, such a great makeover with such a big impact. Beautifully done Morgan and congrats on the new addition to your family. too
This is such a fantastic makeover. Those doors went from awful to one of a kind designer. Fantastic job I love this.
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Wow! What an awesome transformation!!
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Sam, Isn’t it great? I need to do some now.
Great job. I love the dimension it adds to the doors.
Denise, So much better huh? I have a few I need to do this with.
I cannot believe the after photos. You gave those doors a new life. Great job!!!
She really did do an amazing job! Thanks for stopping by!
This was an epic fail I now have to order custom doors because mine don’t open well one won’t open and one won’t close such a disappointment and a very expensive lesson. So much for anything on pinterest never again. So you only like positive feed back because you won’t let me post my comment.
Hi Tena, Your comment didn’t post right away as I have a full-time job and have to approve all messages. I apologize this project didn’t work for you. I would love to get some additional info on it since it did work for these doors. The only thing I can think of is that maybe your door measurements where slightly different and the bend isn’t quite the same??? Can you share some pics with us and maybe we can get to the bottom together?
Well Im going a completely different direction. First I have to get the liquid nails and calk off and bondo to fix the part that came off with the liquid nils. Sorry I was a little frustrated with the project so far nothing in this house has been an easy DIY and has taken longer than planed just glad the big stuff is being done by a crew of professionals lol. thanks for getting back to me and again sorry about the comment.
Hi Tena, I completely understand how that goes. We’ve had our share of DIY issues! If we can be of further help, please let us know. We want you to have success with your project!
My local lumber supply didn’t carry anything that would work well so I used the flooring underlay me to the previous owner had left on my garage. I cut it into strips using my saw max and a straight edge. What a difference! Thank you for the idea!!
That’s awesome Kandy. Way to make due with what you had. Feel free to share a photo of it over on our Facebook Page on our Wednesday Share Day post. We’d love to see it.
I was just wondering if you had to sand down the original door before doing this project? I have the same cheap doors in my office and wanted to give this project a try.
Hi Katie. This was a guest post and she didn’t mention if she sanded them or not. It should be fine to do without sanding.
This looks great and one I plan on tackling. Thanks for sharing your idea!
Feel free to share how it went!
LOVE the doors and plan to try this myself! Do you think lattice would work or does it need to be heavier/wider wood?
I think it just needs to fit right…wouldn’t hurt to try!